It Always Rains
by TheOpening
Summary: Sakura's will.
1. Chapter 1

It always had to rain in times like this…

Sakura tried to push herself up from the muddy ground. The sky pummelled the ground with heavey drops of water, burning the Kunoichi's wounds, splashing muck onto her drenched clothes and face. She gripped the saturated soil in both hands and managed to roll onto her side, but her remaining strength could not serve her in any other way.

She stared down at the pair of feet that stood patiently before her.

'He probably wants to savor this moment,' she thought bitterly.

But even that didn't make her angry. All she had felt the entire time was sadness.

The two legs stepped foreward. A long, thin sword dropped down to point under her chin.

"You know why you can't kill me?" he told her in a dry, uninterested voice. "You don't have enough hatred. My brother once taught me that."

Sakura relaxed and lay on her side on the ground. She couldn't feel anything but pain, yet that didn't move her. She accepted his decision. All she had wanted was to know that she had done all she could to help—that she was not the useless member of team 7. That she had deserved her Sensei's and Naruto's attention… But, most of all, that she had not failed her only love. She knew that challenging Sasuke was basically suicide, but she had to try. She had to try to get through to him. Knowing that she had tried, instead of sitting out of range of the battle field while watching others try, was enough to give Sakura one last moment of self-satisfaction.

"You are pathetic," said Sasuke. "You won't even fight to the last? You won't even defend your life to the end? Why do you leave yourself open to my sword?"

Sakura had been avoiding his eyes for the entire battle, for fear of his powerful Uchiha gengutsu. But now her acceptance of death had given her an even greater reward—having one last look into his eyes. She savored the moment as she trailed her gaze up his strong, masculine body, and paused at his face. His eyes were bright red. She had always loved the color red… she remembered her silly, immature thoughts as a child; she had giggled from the thought that pink is the lighter form of red, and so it must be a sign that they were meant for each other; she could save him from his loneliness and hurt and anger. She could add a little streak of white love to his red hatred...

Sasuke glared at her, the tip of his sword lingering by her throat. "This will pleasure me greatly," he told her, "Once Naruto learns that you died by my hand, his idealism will turn to hypocrisy. He will feel true hatred."

Sakura smiled. "He has already felt true hatred."

"Ha! What would you know about that!" he sneered. "You never knew nor cared about Naruto for most of his life. You know nothing about either of us."

"No, Sasuke," whispered Sakura. But the rain drowned out her voice, so she spoke louder, even though it widened the gash in her side. "No, Sasuke. It is you who is the ignorant one. You are completely oblivious that Naruto knew someone who meant a lot more to him than I ever would."

Sasuke frowned. He knew she wasn't lying. But he didn't want to hear it. He raised his sword.

"That man," Sakura said even louder above the rain, her last wish for Sasuke to hear these words, "That man was like a father to him. That man is who trained him for about two years. His power and his friendship grew stronger by this man's side. And this man was Jiraiya."

That name alone halted Sasuke's sword. Where had he heard that name before? He remembered Orochimaru mentioning it once…

"This man," Sakura continued, "Loved Naruto like he was his own grandson. They had a special bond. And recently…" She winced as she felt a wave of nausea, "Recently that man was killed. And Naruto felt real hatred…So you are the ignorant one, Sasuke. You may know everything about Jutsu and chakra, but you know nothing about what he has been through and how he still feels about you!"

Sasuke's eyes hardened. "Well then… let's see what he truly feels about me after this."

His sword dropped to his side.


	2. Chapter 2

If I owned Naruto, I'd make ninja Platypuses... but I don't own it: Disclaimer.

For those of you wondering about Karin's Identity, Chapter 4--I'm sorry, I'm a perfectionist and I dont want to disappoint you, so its still in the creating process. Several directions the story could go, but which it the right one? Perhaps you could tell me what you would like to see happen?

Anyway, here is the final chapter(?) to "It Always Rains" I hope you enjoy :)

*****

Sakura stared at the sword in shock, watching it bounce and clamor before lying very still in the mud. She carefully brought her eyes upward again, squinting against the stinging droplets of rain.

Sasuke stood very quiet, his arms by his sides, his hair dripping wet, the faint fleshy color of his skin bleeding through his soaked white shirt. His eyes were wide and cofused, not looking at Sakura but straight ahead. Sakura glanced behind her but nothing was there.

"S…Sasuke?" she said tentatively. "S…S-Sasuke, what is wrong?"

Sasuke bent forward and pressed his palms to his eyelids, his fingers digging into his forehead. The rain continued to batter both of their bodies.

"S-Sasuke, are you okay?" The sight of his agony caused her to reflexively sit up—she didn't have the strength before, but it came naturally in that moment. Suddenly all the blood leaking from her body was irrelevant—her fatigue vanished. Perhaps it was something only a sincere lover could achieve.

An ugly sound emitted from Sasuke's throat and he fell to his knees.

"SASUKE-KUN!!" She screamed. Again—almost supernaturally—she found the ability to push past her limits and kneel by his side, cradling him as his body sunk to the ground. He lay in her arms and held his eyes, his shoulders shaking.

"Get…off of me…" he growled, trying to rise but wincing as the pain forced him to the ground again.

Sakura heard a third disturbance in the rain. It was Shikamaru. Sakura met his eyes as he approached her, his figure slowly coming into focus against the blur of pouring water. He wore a stoic expression, his shoulders slumped forward.

"He has reached his limit," he told Sakura dully. "You did it. You have conquered his power."

Sakura's fatigue returned at these words. She stared at the Jounin pleadingly.

"We can't waste time. We need to tend to your wounds immediately—we can't waste one minute on sentimental good byes, although I understand your pain. Remove the threat to Konoha, Sakura."

Sakura looked down at Sasuke, shivering with a grimace on his face.

"Okay, I understand. Sakura, give me Sasuke. I will handle it. It won't be your burden to bear."

"N-Naruto said," Sakura began to cry, sobbing as she stammered, "N-Naruto said he w-wanted to handle Sasuke!" she wept. "Naruto will hate me now! He will hate me for selfishly—"

"Sakura, Sasuke's end was determined the moment he intended violence on the Leaf Village. Whether it is by yours or Naruto's hands, it doesn't matter. "

"But N-Naruto could have—Naruto could still—change him—p-please, Shikamaru, don't—"

"You were so set on doing this, but now that he is defenselessly in your arms you go back on your word."

Sakura bowed her head in shame, letting the rain wipe her tears from her face.

"I'm not finished yet," Sasuke growled. He tried to get off of Sakura but he fell to the muddy floor. He grunted in pain, uncovering his hands from his eyes but seeing nothing.

"It's a poison I made, "Whispered Sakura, her voice a little high-pitched from filtering through her tears. She watched Sasuke struggle with a pitying, regretful gaze. "I made it specifically for you…the one poisoned quickly loses sight and experiences severe headaches, making him unable to use the mangekyo as well as his genius mind."

"Damn you!" yelled Sasuke, "And you made it so that I couldn't feel the poison until it was too late!"

"Yes," said Sakura sadly. "I made it so that the effects were postponed. Or else you may have searched me for the antidote. It also causes blind hallucinations, so that the poisoned one is… thoroughly handicapped by confusion…"

Sasuke shouted in rage. He raised a fist as if to strike in the direction of her voice, but instead cried out in pain and held his head.

Sakura wept, holding her face in her hands.

Shikamaru came to loom over Sasuke, his Kunai in his hand. "Turn around, Sakura," he said quietly, "I don't want you to see this."


End file.
